The character, cut-up, avid Auburn University football fan and “full-time granny,” 52-year-old Tammy Renae Bullard and her 3-year-old granddaughter died just before 8 a.m. Friday on U.S. 280 between Sylacauga and Childersburg.

State officials announced the next round of environmental enhancement projects to receive funding related to the 2010 BP oil spill. With the new projects, Alabama has funded 32 restoration efforts or land purchases. The state has spent $195 million of the $356 million allotted to it through a $2.54 billion settlement granted to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Louisiana received the lion’s share of the settlement, at $1.2 billion, with the other Gulf states receiving equal portions.

Kate Ragsdale, a retired University of Alabama librarian, was found murdered in Feb. 24, 2013 at her home in The Highlands neighborhood. Tuscaloosa Violation Crimes Unit Capt. Gary Hood said there is now a $20,000 reward posted, in addition to a $5,000 reward already in place from the governor’s office.

Alabama, compared to other Southern states, allows campaigns on Election Day to electioneer fairly close to the entrance doors outside of polling places. Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill says that the state's 30-foot rule should be looked at.